To Rinse Or Not To Rinse?

June 6, 1987|By Susanne Hupp and Denise Salvaggio

OLD HABITS DIE hard among automatic dishwasher owners, say the people at the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM). According to a recent survey, 83 percent of the owners usually hand rinse dishes before loading them. Of this number, 49 percent have never used the dishwasher without hand- rinsing the dishes first. Of the 83 percent, 70 percent pre-rinse everything, while the additional 13 percent pre-rinse selected items, such as casseroles, pots and pans. The reaction from dishwasher manufacturers? AHAM implies ever-so-subtly that they think we're rather silly, because newer models clean well enough to make pre-rinsing unnecessary.